Trivia
Ages
Each of the six "ages" you could choose from were historically accurate. Some examples: Some ages featured cities that others didn't (the cities historically hadn't been settled yet), the four different European powers gained and lost power as they did in history, and different types of ships were more common in different eras.
Development
Sid Meier on his design philosophy and how he applied it to his favorite game (from the May 2001 issue of Computer Gaming World):
We have a joke that we only do the research after the game is finished. If I read too many books, I will create a game based on the books.
(...)
Pirates! was about pirate movies, not the period.
Extras
The original box came with a map of the entire Caribbean, with each of the cities noted with their founding date (so you'd know when not to visit them!)
Missions
Unlike the Apple II version, some following versions often lets governors offer the player special missions to accept or reject in return for potential rewards.
Music
If the player runs
Sid Meier's Pirates! on a Tandy machine, the player will find snippets of 3-voice music throughout the game.
NES version
Unlike other versions of
Pirates!, the NES port lacks "tobacco" as a trade item for the 1600-1640 time period. In its place? An item simply labelled "crops."
Awards
- Amiga Joker
- Issue 01/1991 – Best Adventure Game in 1990
- Computer Gaming World
- Hall of Fame member
- October 1988 (Issue #52) - Action Game of the Year
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #18 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time”
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #6 Most Rewarding Ending of All Time
- GameStar (Germany)
- Issue 03/2013 – One of the "Ten Best C64 Games“
Information also contributed by
Andrew Grasmeder,
Indra was here,
JubalHarshaw,
Kasey Chang,
Nathan Jedinak and
PCGamer77
